The present invention relates to overhead door position indicating systems.
Door alarm systems are known which are usable on doors, including garage doors. Typically, these systems include contact points between the door and the adjacent door jamb. As the door opens and the contacts are separated, a switch closes supplying power to an alarm circuit. These systems are generally hard-wired into the home/garage electrical system.
The use of a radio frequency (RF) transmitter with a motion detecting alarm system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,158 to Rempel et al. When the door or window to which the device is secured moves, the motion detecting device moves to complete the circuit between a power supply and the RF transmitter. While detecting the motion of the object to which it is attached, this system is not capable of alerting one to the position of that object.
A status indicating system for use with an automatic garage door opener is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,081 to Schmitz. An indicator system comprising a pair of light emitting diodes hard-wired across up and down limit switches indicates the door position.
Additionally, various door alarm systems are known that require a mechanical connection between the movable door and an adjacent stationary door frame. Typically, these systems utilize the mechanical connection as a switch in an alarm circuit such that, when the door is opened, movement of the mechanical connection between the door and the frame triggers the alarm.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a garage door position indicating system which may be easily installed on any overhead door without requiring any changes to existing home wiring and without requiring any alignment or mechanical connection between the door and the adjacent frame.